Gemma 3n 4B (free) vs Mistral Magistral Small 2509
Gemma 3n 4B (free) (2025) and Mistral Magistral Small 2509 (2025) are compact production models from Google DeepMind and MistralAI. Gemma 3n 4B (free) ships a 8K-token context window, while Mistral Magistral Small 2509 ships a not-yet-sourced context window. On pricing, Gemma 3n 4B (free) costs $0.02/1M input tokens versus $0.50/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Gemma 3n 4B (free) is ~2400% cheaper at $0.02/1M; pay for Mistral Magistral Small 2509 only for provider fit.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Gemma 3n 4B (free) | Mistral Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | provider-routed production | provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Classification and JSON / Tool use | General |
| Context window | 8K | — |
| Cheapest output | $0.04/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 2 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 rows | 0 rows |
Decision tradeoffs
- Gemma 3n 4B (free) has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Gemma 3n 4B (free) has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.04/1M tokens.
- Gemma 3n 4B (free) has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Gemma 3n 4B (free) uniquely exposes Structured outputs in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Gemma 3n 4B (free) for Classification and JSON / Tool use.
- Use Mistral Magistral Small 2509 when your own prompt tests beat the comparison signals; the local data does not show a decisive standalone advantage yet.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Gemma 3n 4B (free)
$26.00
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Together AI
Mistral Magistral Small 2509
$775
Cheapest tracked route/tier: AWS Bedrock
Estimated monthly gap: $749. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Gemma 3n 4B (free) and Mistral Magistral Small 2509; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Mistral Magistral Small 2509 is $1.46/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Structured outputs before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Mistral Magistral Small 2509 and Gemma 3n 4B (free); plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Gemma 3n 4B (free) is $1.46/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Gemma 3n 4B (free) adds Structured outputs in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-03 | 2025-09-01 |
| Context window | 8K | — |
| Parameters | 8B (4B effective active) | 24B |
| Architecture | decoder only | - |
| License | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2024-06 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Gemma 3n 4B (free) | Mistral Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.02/1M tokens | $0.50/1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.04/1M tokens | $1.50/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Gemma 3n 4B (free) | Mistral Magistral Small 2509 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | No |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark rows are currently sourced for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on structured outputs: Gemma 3n 4B (free). Both models share the core language-model surface, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Gemma 3n 4B (free) lists $0.02/1M input and $0.04/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider, while Mistral Magistral Small 2509 lists $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Gemma 3n 4B (free) lower by about $0.77 per million blended tokens. Availability is 3 providers versus 2, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Gemma 3n 4B (free) when provider fit, lower input-token cost, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Mistral Magistral Small 2509 when provider fit are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which is cheaper, Gemma 3n 4B (free) or Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Gemma 3n 4B (free) is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Gemma 3n 4B (free) costs $0.02/1M input and $0.04/1M output tokens. Mistral Magistral Small 2509 costs $0.50/1M input and $1.50/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Gemma 3n 4B (free) or Mistral Magistral Small 2509 open source?
Gemma 3n 4B (free) is listed under Proprietary. Mistral Magistral Small 2509 is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for structured outputs, Gemma 3n 4B (free) or Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Gemma 3n 4B (free) has the clearer documented structured outputs signal in this comparison. If structured outputs is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Gemma 3n 4B (free) and Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Gemma 3n 4B (free) is available on NVIDIA NIM, Together AI, and OpenRouter. Mistral Magistral Small 2509 is available on AWS Bedrock and Vercel AI Gateway. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
When should I pick Gemma 3n 4B (free) over Mistral Magistral Small 2509?
Gemma 3n 4B (free) is ~2400% cheaper at $0.02/1M; pay for Mistral Magistral Small 2509 only for provider fit. If your workload also depends on provider fit, start with Gemma 3n 4B (free); if it depends on provider fit, run the same evaluation with Mistral Magistral Small 2509.
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Last reviewed: 2026-05-22. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.